He recently retired from Liz Claiborne Inc., where he was senior
vice president for sourcing, manufacturing, distribution, and logistics
from 1995 through 2006. During his
tenure, the company expanded from $2 billion to over $5 billion in
annual sales, while the number of divisions grew from 4 to 40.

Zane was a founding member of the board
of directors of the Fair Labor Association (FLA), whose mission is
to protect workers’ rights and improve
working conditions worldwide by promoting adherence to international
labor standards.

He also is on the advisory board of Columbia University's School of
International and Public Affairs and the University of Delaware's
Department of Fashion & Apparel
Studies.

A native New Yorker, Zane was educated at Brooklyn College and
the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Up until a few years ago, if a sourcing executive were asked to name
the most important skill necessary to perform his or her job, the answer
probably would have been quota management.

After all, virtually all Asian countries were subject to quota (which
meant that each of these countries could export a finite quantity of specific
products to the United States, with anything over and above those limitations
subject to embargo), quota costs were often high and always unpredictable,
and production programs had to be consigned to many factories in many countries
in order to ensure that adequate and cost-effective quota was available. No
wonder that entire staffs devoted no less than 40% of their time and effort
to managing this very elusive and often incomprehensible attribute.

And then, at the end of 2005, quota ceased to exist. While we
all expected profound changes to occur within the supply chain — factory
and country consolidation, lower costs, and more meaningful relationships
with fewer suppliers — the changes have been far greater than most executives
anticipated.

Perhaps because of quota elimination, perhaps in conjunction with
it, or perhaps due to pure happenstance, the landscape has changed immeasurably
in the last two years, especially for the established brands and wholesalers:

Retail consolidation has impacted most wholesalers. There
are simply fewer department stores to purchase the major brands in the
quantities previously experienced.

Private label aspirations and capabilities have increased due,
in no small measure, to the relative ease with which goods can be sourced
in a quota free world.

Product differentiation has become a mantra for the surviving department
stores. No longer are they willing to have the same goods in stores
located in different parts of the country; now they want product specifically
designed for their targeted consumer.

Stores have discovered the importance of inventory control. They
want what they want, when they want it, and are unwilling to make long-term
commitments.

Sourcing executives have realized that support and ancillary services
normally supplied by U.S.-based offices can be provided more quickly and
less expensively at factories, provided that investments were made in training
and technology. This logical offshoot of factory and country consolidation,
however, carries with it considerable execution risk.

Trade politics have become uglier than ever as politicians and
protectionists seek to reign in China, the source of 25 to 33 percent
of U.S.-consumed apparel.

Purchasers insist that factories act responsibly in consigning
production to facilities that respect human rights and environmental concerns.

Costs remain as important as ever, if not more so, as competition
intensifies at all levels.

These are the new realities now confronting sourcing executives. While
they may no longer have to contend with all the ramifications of quota, there
remains much for them to do: source better product at better factories providing
more services at greater speed and for lower costs. This challenge
promises to make the management of quota a cakewalk.

The
University of Delaware’s Fashion International Business Education Response (FIBER)
is partially supported by the U.S. Department
of Education.